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The role of storybook reading in a twilight preschool head start program

THE ROLE OF STORYBOOK READING IN AN URBAN TWILIGHT
PRESCHOOL HEAD START PROGRAM
by
Hilda S. Baca-Fetcenko
_____________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2009
Copyright 2009 Hilda S. Baca-Fetcenko

This study set out to examine the use of storybook reading in the twilight preschool classroom as reading readiness. The focus of the study was on the teaching of storybook reading and the impact, if any, it had on preschool children attending the twilight program. The site for the study was the Head Start program at a major research university. The research was conducted at one of the five sites, Gardens Child Development Center, over a period of two months.; Teachers and the Associate Director were interviewed to gather information about their experiences working with preschool aged children and their training in storybook reading. Eight classroom observations were conducted during storybook reading time. Each classroom observation lasted a period of 30-45 minutes. The focus of the classroom observations was to provide an insight of the classroom environment, emergent reading strategies, child participation and engagement, teacher behaviors, child’s reading behaviors, and a continuum of the child’s reading and oral language development.; Each child in the study participated in one developmental assessment: Sulzby’s Categories of Storybook Reading. The assessment, Sulzby’s Categories of Storybook Reading, was selected to look within emergent reading in order to identify and describe the range of strategies readers use.; Gardens Child Development center believed in the practice of reading to children as a tool for supporting reading development. Based on statements made by the teachers and the Associate Director, storybook reading was considered a significant part of their program and in children’s reading readiness. However, observations did not support these findings. And where there was evidence of student’s reading readiness, storybook reading alone could not be seen as having a significant impact. Through rich oral language environments as evidenced at Gardens child development center, children will be eager and ready to learn to read.

THE ROLE OF STORYBOOK READING IN AN URBAN TWILIGHT
PRESCHOOL HEAD START PROGRAM
by
Hilda S. Baca-Fetcenko
_____________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2009
Copyright 2009 Hilda S. Baca-Fetcenko